1. Field of the Invention
A process for forming a powdered EPDM terpolymer, wherein the powder of said EPDM terpolymer has a volume density of about 10 to about 30 lb/ft.sup.3, which includes the steps of adding a cement of an EPDM terpolymer in a hydrocarbon solvent to water, a volume ratio of the water to the cement being about 60 to 1 to about 2 to 1; emulsifying under high shear the blend of the water and the cement thereby forming a dispersion of particles of the EPDM terpolymer in the water; steam stripping under high agitation the emulsified blend of the EPDM terpolymer, the water and the solvent thereby removing the solvent from the emulsified blend; filtering the dispersion of the particles of the EPDM terpolymer in the water to recover a wet powder of the EPDM terpolymer; and hot air drying the wet powder of the EPDM terpolymer in a fluid-bed dryer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
EPDM terpolymers are old in the art; however, due to the non-crystalline nature and the known methods of manufacturing these EPDM terpolymers, the production of a powdered EPDM terpolymer has never been successful. In the conventional process for the manufacture of EPDM terpolymers, the resultant polymer is isolated in a fused mass which is sold conventionally in large slabs or extremely large dice or pelletized particles which have volume densities of less than about 50 lb/ft.sup.3. These conventionally produced EPDM terpolymers are not capable of being readily reduced in size by either grinding or other conventional techniques into a powdered form, wherein the resultant powder has a volume density of at least about 15 lb/ft.sup.3. It is desirable to produce a powdered EPDM terpolymer because in the formation of extended EPDM compositions, mixing and compounding by extrusion techniques of fillers and oils into the EPDM terpolymer is maximized as the particle size of the EPDM terpolymer is decreased in size.
The instant process provides a means for producing a powdered EPDM terpolymer composition having a volume density of at least about 15 lb/ft.sup.3 thereby overcoming the deficiencies inherent in the conventional processes for producing EPDM terpolymers.